Health center seeks to help city's uninsured and under-served

TRENTON—Henry J. Austin Health Clinic is addressing its fiscal and delivery challenges through innovation and partnerships. To better serve patients, the clinic has recently implemented the Primary Care Enhancement Initiative which among other things has reduced the wait time for an appointment from 37 days to an average of 1.5 days. Henry J. Austin’s dental department is also being creative about how to reach Trenton’s population to prevent costly dental illnesses, especially among children.

The Trentonian interviewed HJA’s Executive Director George C. Stokes and Associate Dental Director Dr. Devin T. Goodman to get an update about the clinic.

Dr. Stokes how is Henry J. Austin doing?

HJA is doing very well as we continue to improve health care for Trenton’s under-served and uninsured population. We implemented the Primary Care Enhancement Initiative, which consists of 3 phases 1) improve the patient’s access to care, 2) improve the patients’ health care experience, and 3) improve the patient’s outcomes through population management. We feel we have been very successful to date. Our average wait for an appointment has gone from 37 days down to an average of 1.5 days.

What are HJA’s goals for this year?

Our major goal is the transformation of our delivery system to a patient-centered medical home, which is based on a relationship between patient, family, and their medical “team” formed to improve the patient’s care across a continuum of referrals and services. This medical home will embrace integrated health care and enhance our Behavioral Health capability.

Another major goal for us is to work very closely with our local hospitals building coalitions to maximize services and improve quality while reducing costs.

What challenges is HJA currently facing?

One of our major challenges is to not only increase our revenue stream, but also to ensure timely payment from our payers while we continue to improve quality, which lowers our costs.

What message would you like to transmit to the community?

Henry J. Austin, with its over 40 years of service to the community, has embraced its commitment to provide high quality integrated services to the community. We feel that our staff, which consists of mostly local residents, has a commitment second to none. With our Board of Directors, we feel we continuously listen and respond appropriately to the needs of our community.

What can you tell us about your Dental Department?

We are very proud of our dental services. We are the only dental providers in the city of Trenton to offer dental services to the Medicaid population. We are pleased to have recently opened our second dental office site. Along with primary dental services, we have also implemented a medical-dental integration model which provides oral health for children (as young as 6 months of age) as part of their well child appointments. We feel that this service offers preventative health care for our child population.

To make an appointment at HJA call 609-278-5900 or visit their website at www.henryjaustin.org for more information.